Washtenaw ISD partners on initiative to make mathematics more relevant to students' lives

A new collaboration between the Washtenaw Intermediate School District (WISD), Oakland Schools, and Wayne Regional Educational Service Agency (RESA) aims to make mathematics more relevant to the lives of students in Washtenaw, Oakland, and Wayne counties.

The initiative, called the Tri-County Culturally Responsive Mathematics Summer Institute, will have two parts. A showcase of student work will take place June 2 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Wayne County Community College Downtown Campus, 801 W. Fort St. in Detroit. Instructional sessions for students will take place over Zoom in two blocks, the first from June 19-29 and the second from July 10-21.
 
Jennifer Banks, director of instruction with the WISD, says culturally responsive teaching is "based on [students'] life experiences and things that interest them." Banks has taught math for almost 15 years. She says, "You'll often hear kids say, ‘When am I ever going to use this? Why do I have to do this?’"
 
A culturally responsive lesson would take a math problem and "[apply] it to their real life so they can see why it’s useful," Banks says.
 
As an example, Banks says students might try calculating how long it would take to ride the bus from one location to another location. Or they might consider making a dish for their family. 

"What’s something your family is going to enjoy on a holiday?" Banks asks. "If you're making it for a large group, how do you do that? How do you decide how much flour to put in, or how much sugar to put in?"
 
Banks emphasizes that culturally responsive lessons provide students with "opportunities to see themselves inside the work that they're doing." But Banks is quick to add that the work is "academically rigorous." 

"Culturally responsive does not just mean a bunch of fluff," she says.
  
Teachers and students will both be paid for their participation in the Summer Institute. Teachers will receive $2,400. Students who participate in either session will receive $600, for a total of $1,200 for four weeks.
 
"If we're paying teachers for their expertise and knowledge to help create the product, we thought it was really important to also pay students, and to value their expertise and value their knowledge," Banks says.
 
"We want students and teachers to learn from each other," she adds.

Teachers may apply for the program here, while students may apply here.

Natalia Holtzman is a freelance writer based in Ann Arbor. Her work has appeared in publications such as the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the Los Angeles Review of Books, Literary Hub, The Millions, and others.

Photo by Katerina Holmes.